Preview | MATA HARI THE MUSICAL (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)

They’ve done it again! The champions of the parody musical genre are back!

Punchline Theatre, the company behind Guido!: The Gunpowder Treason Plot and Jack & I: The Jack the Ripper Musical return to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe at the beautiful Merchants Hall. Their latest show Mata Hari: The Musical explores and reimagines the life of the infamous wartime courtesan, femme fatale, and alleged spy Mata Hari in an explosion of colour, sound, and comedy!

“No, you don’t have to have seen our other shows, or even be aware of who Mata Hari was”, writer Daniel Henry Kaes informs me. “We are making are the same points as we have always done, but it’s a genre that naturally leaves itself open to parody. It is perfectly possible in my eyes to have a fantastically funny show, with catchy songs and crazy characters, that at the same time is informative, revealing, and up-lifting. The starting point for these musicals was the idea that history is written by the winners, so trying to reimagine these “anti-heroes” in this offbeat, individualist manner is very liberating.”

The real legend of Mata Hari has triggered much debate amongst historians, and it is her fantastic story of seduction and alleged espionage in that makes her such a perfect choice for a musical. Punchline Theatre are fast growing in their popularity for their cult musicals and they are joined this year by award-winning comedian and director Will Seaward. Their anarchic spirit has been compared to The Comic Strip Presents, Python, Jerry Springer: The Opera, and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, and once again Punchline Theatre is sure to provide a breath of fresh air at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

Mata Hari: the Musical runs for three weeks from 6th - 27th August, 8:45pm (50 mins) at Spotlites @ Merchants Hall at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015.

Click here to book tickets. 

Preview | JACK & I: THE JACK THE RIPPER MUSICAL (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)

Following the enormous success of hit comedy musical GUIDO!, a reimagining of the gunpowder treason plot and featured on this blog, DhK Productions will be presenting JACK & I: THE JACK THE RIPPER MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2014, the second instalment of their trilogy of historical comedy musicals. Having recently also returned from the Brighton Fringe, where they performed WAY BACK, an original comedy-drama set on Beachy Head, to fantastic reviews, they are proving to be one of the most exciting and creative emerging companies in recent years.

As in GUIDO!, the show tells the tale of its eponymous anti-hero, in this case the fabled Jack the Ripper, the infamous Whitechapel murderer of 1888. While a tremendous amount of research has clearly been done by the writing and production team, the story does take certain liberties with historical inaccuracies, and the writer Daniel Henry Kaes freely admits that the lack of hard facts and evidence presented a different challenge to his previous musical: "This is part of the reason we choose to focus on the detective, Inspector Abberline, so that the identity of the Ripper remains not only elusive but also ever-changing, according to evidence and public opinion as the plot develops".

As well as trying to crack this seemingly impossible case, the protagonist Abberline must also cope with his superiors and colleagues at work, the interference of the press, and hisown marital problems, as his public and private worlds clash, in the tradition of classival Greek drama. Former West Midlands actor Matt Lim performs amongst the talented ensemble cast, whose infectious energy and passion make it difficult to ignore what promises to be one of the most original and engaging - and funny, above all funny - productions at the Fringe this year.

With a witty script redolent of Mel Brooks and Python, catchy and impressive music from Kaes and his collaborators, and a plot full of twists and shocks, make sure you "catch the Ripper" before the month is out!

JACK & I plays at C Nova, Edinburgh 1st-25th August (previews 30th and 31st July) at 9pm. Recommended age 14+

Twitter: @dhkproductions #catchtheripper

GUIDO! (Edinburgh Fringe) Press Announcement 2013

It's 1605 and the Catholics are not happy. The oppressive rule of King James I has left them hungry for rebellion and they need a figurehead to lead them out of the pub and onwards to freedom. Guido Fawkes is the man they have been waiting for: he just doesn't know it yet!

Guido! is written by Daniel Henry Kaes and composed by David Ferris. Directed  by Midlands-born Cambridge University student Matt Lim, the show premiered at the ADC Theatre in June 2012. A privilege to launch during the final academic week - May Week - the show received an enthusiastic response. The show has been revised for the Fringe and represents the original writing of the Cambridge students in a musical comedy adventure. The production brings together life events and characters from a notorious era in English history in a mock-epic as grand as Pirates of The Caribbean with the musical theatre attitude of Jerry Springer: The Opera. 

Guido! transfers from Cambridge to the C Too Main House at this years Edinburgh Fringe Festival and is likely to be one of the most fun, ridiculous and brilliantly playful shows you will see at the year's Fringe.

1 - 26 August 2013 at 15:50 daily.
Tickets prices are £8.50 and £6.50 concessions.
To book tickets and for venue information, click here.